Anderson's talk show site posted a video of Anderson behind scenes at an "Anderson" photo shoot:

And some photos:

Throughout the summer the talk show is taking you backstage to meet the team and get behind-the-scenes details about the upcoming season. Here's a q & a with Susan, the Executive in Charge of Production.

As Executive in Charge of Production at “Anderson,” tell us about what you’ve been busy working on this summer?“We are re-launching the show. We moved ‘Anderson’ from an exciting first season launch, in a very unique space. It presented a lot of production challenges, but it was like nothing you’ve seen on television. Now that we’re up and running, I think it’s great that we’re going into a production space. It gives us a lot more flexibility and the ability to do a lot more TV-centric things.”Tell us about what will be different about the new studio space.“Before we were literally in a performance space — a bowl, with a window as the set. There was nothing we moved other than ourselves and boxes of files. The only set we had was furniture and a couple of fly walls. For season two, we are building a whole new set!”What is the process of building a new set?“The concept of building a set is pretty intense. Think of building a high-end home and having to build it in a month. That’s what the budget of those things are, and you come together with a lot of decision-makers.”Who has designed the new set?“We are working with Jim Fenhagen, Executive Vice President of Design for Jack Morton Worldwide, who is an amazing set designer. He is a TV wizard. He has done numerous sets. He put together a design. We went through many revisions with Anderson and everyone on the call. We finally got to where we wanted it to be.”Where are you building the set?“We are building the whole set at the CBS Scenic Shop, located in the same building as our stage. Which is amazing for us, because we can watch the whole process — especially when we are moving so quickly. We can watch firsthand. CBS has an amazing woodworking shop — their scene department is first rate. We were looking at brick and window treatments yesterday.”

How many weeks will the set take to build?“We load in lighting and do pre-light for a couple days starting on Monday, July 30. The set starts moving-in August 2. It will be a seven-day build and then lighting comes back for another three or four days to refocus the lighting. There are many windows and all lights are controllable — each color can change, and they’re dimmable. In three and a half weeks they’ll build an entire house and an entire world.”

What else will be new about the season two set?“We are building the producer area which is an interactive environment. This is where if there is breaking news — however we want to utilize it — it will be very organized. Also, we have numerous monitor opportunities and tons of entrances.”

How will the audience change?“The number is a little smaller than season one. Jazz at Lincoln Center had the ability to put a high 300. This maxes out at about 200-210, which is still a really good number for daytime television. I don’t think the size of the audience will change the show. We kept Anderson intimate. We kept the audience on the floor. We like to blur the lines between stage and audience. Anderson likes to be very involved in the audience.”

How much was Anderson involved in the set design process?“Very. He is very involved. He definitely respects the people who are contracted and hired to do it, and you can see that, but he has very good and very specific notes. If something hits him one way or the other, it’s always a really good point. He knows himself. Anderson is the best one to gauge what works for him, because he is the one who sits there every day. We can only surmise, but he feels it.”What were some of Anderson’s notes?“He was very concerned with comfortable entrances for his guests. We had to make sure on the center island that the stairs are not precarious. He has done so many appearances, and he brought up a good point — even as a trained professional, the minute you walk out on stage, you have to focus on everything around you. So, you have to make sure if walking on a platform it’s a standard one step. You don’t want to have to think about it because it will trip you up.”What else were Anderson’s contributions to the new set?“Anderson definitely wanted to personalize it. In the gallery, we’re calling it — in the back — we will probably display some of his mom’s artwork. He wanted to bring a bit of himself to the set. His home is a historic firehouse which is big and unique, and we tried to keep that character by creating a live/work space.”Tell us about backstage area. What will it be like?“Anderson has a great dressing room. It’s right off backstage we will have the ability to hook up a camera there. The control room is literally a door outside the studio. We hope to utilize the backstage as much as possible. The building also offers camera drops which means we can shoot the audience in their holding area before the show and it feeds right to the control room.”

What are you most looking forward to in Season 2?“From a production point of view, I am looking forward to being in a real television facility. Anything we wanted last season… we had to build out of thin air. This is the CBS Broadcast Center and we have access to everything. They get television. And that is a huge plus in taking the show to the next level. Now that we have identified the show, we can amp it up and it will be exciting to see what we can do with the technology and being in a longstanding television studio.”

And here's part 2 with Executive Producer Terence:

How will season two of “Anderson” stand out from other daytime talk shows?“We want to take the lid off the making of a daytime show and will be giving viewers a front row seat to the reality of making a TV show. Anderson will be joined by co-hosts, real people, his production staff… everybody’s in it. We’re taking the wall down, so people can get a real look at what it takes to get “Anderson” on the air.”What do you think of the office moving to CBS?“For me, this move is very nostalgic because I started here as a CBS Page. I still have my uniform and was a page for ‘Late Show with David Letterman,’ ‘Joan Rivers Talk Show,’ ‘Geraldo,’ and the soap operas and the evening news. I’m excited to be back at CBS because it’s a great place.”

How often do you talk to Anderson over summer hiatus?I speak to Anderson every day either by phone, email or text, and… we’re big texters. I like to text him during ‘360.’”What did you talk to him about?“Yesterday I asked him what the heck he was doing on his summer vacation. I asked Anderson about his safari, and I hadn’t seen him since we were out in Los Angeles. I asked him if he missed me.”What did you do while you were in L.A.?“We went out to L.A. for a week, where we met with publicists, movie studios, sort of the movers and shakers to talk about what’s coming for Season 2… and had a lot of lunches, a lot of breakfasts, a lot of dinners, a lot of time with Anderson, and then we went to the Emmys.”

Would you invite the ‘Human Barbie’ back to the show?“You know, I like to never say that we’re not going to invite a guest back. So… I will not say no.”

What do you think Anderson would say about inviting the ‘Human Barbie’?“I think Anderson would want to create a space and a show that is respectful of people… I bet he’d say no.”

Will Honey Boo Boo Child be back?“Honey Boo Boo Child is one of my all time favorite guests! And Honey Boo Boo Child’s mom is my friend on Facebook. We are always open to the ladies and the little girls of ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ here at ‘Anderson.’”

9 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Where I live Anderson is being replaced with Ricki Lake and as far as I can tell he's not on the schedule unless he takes over Nate Berkus' old time slot. His second season starts the same day as Katie's and everyone else's so we'll have to wait and see.

Admittedly, I didn't see much of the first season of "Anderson" but I did think it was a beautiful set. I loved the window and the view. I never thought the problems with the show had anything to do with the set.

It's great how enthusiastic Susan is about the new set but will razzle-dazzle production faciliities, fewer steps for the guests and mom Gloria's artwork on the wall really improve the content of the show?

People may tune in once to see the new set but the ratings won't move up unless there's good topics and good discussions.

360's coverage of the Colorado theater shooting was excellent. It showed the importance of being at the scene. I couldn't help wondering if and how Anderson will be able to get to the story once "Anderson" begins it's four live shows a week schedule.

If the Holmes shooting happened in October and Anderson had a live show with the cast of "Modern Family" scheduled, what will he do? Right now, it's just hypothetical wondering but I worry how Anderson will handle these situations.

If you read between the lines, his production assisatant says nothing.Everthing is better than it was.She did say the audience was smaller and that's not a surprise.I read that he had trouble filling 300 seats.I too, don't see him on the fall schedule.Not that I care.I seldom watched before and I don't intend to start now.And I agree with the other commenter.There was NO dscussion about improved content.All the rest is plain fluff.

Someone has to tell Susan that we are less interested in behind the scenes and more interested in what Anderson brings to the table...like content.If it is the same dumb-downd, day time soccer Mom craziness, count most of us with brains, out.

I read some time ago that the FOX affiliate (KTVU) in the San Francisco Bay Area did not renew the show for the second season. I've never seen anything about the show being scheduled to run on some other channel instead. That seems like a huge market to lose.

Is there somewhere to find a list of what channels will be carrying the show's second season?

This may fall under the broken record category, but. When Donahue was tops they had a stage, more like a platform, two chairs an that's it, no frills or fancy stuff; it was about the content. So a note to Anderson & Susan if you don't have great guests and good topics nothing will help. Here's a suggestion listen to your viewers for once and dump the ego. Ego doesn't work today.